This Week in West Virginia History

from The West Virginia Encyclopedia West Virginia Humanities Council 1310 Kanawha Blvd., E. Charleston, WV 25301

July 15, 1886 - Congressman Cleveland Monroe ‘‘Cleve’’ Bailey was born on a farm in Pleasants County. He represented West Virginia’s third congressional district for eight terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1945–47 and 1949–63.

July 15, 1988 - Interstate 64 was completed when the final section between Sam Black Church and the West Virginia Turnpike was opened to traffic.

July 16, 1869 - Philanthropist Michael Late Benedum was born in Bridgeport. He made a fortune in the oil and gas business, but he is best remembered for the establishment of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.

July 17, 1861 - The Battle of Scary Creek took place in Putnam County. It was one of the earliest battles of the war and one of the first Confederate victories.

July 17, 1914 - Singer Eleanor Steber was born in Wheeling. She made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 1940.

July 17, 1922 - The Cliftonville Mine Battle took place east of Wellsburg, Brooke County. The gun battle between striking miners and sheriff’s forces left at least nine people dead.

July 18, 1776 - The Methodist bishop Francis Asbury first set foot in present West Virginia outside of Berkeley Springs. He worked extensively in what is now the Eastern Panhandle, preaching and lecturing almost every day, before continuing farther into western Virginia.

July 18, 1893 - Spencer State Hospital opened. With its connected brick buildings, a quarter-mile in length, the hospital was sometimes referred to as the longest continuous brick building in America. Spencer State Hospital remained in operation until June 1989.

July 19, 1850 - Pope Pius IX established the Diocese of Wheeling, naming Richard V. Whelan as its first bishop.

July 19, 1863 - A Confederate raid led by Gen. John Morgan came to an end on Buffington Island, near Ravenswood. The Confederates were overtaken by federal troops, local militia, and three U.S. Navy gunboats.

July 20, 2010 - Carte Goodwin became the nation’s youngest senator when he took the oath of office. Goodwin was appointed to fill Robert C. Byrd’s seat in the U.S. Senate following Byrd’s death.

July 21, 1924 - Don Knotts was born in Morgantown. Knotts will be forever remembered as Barney Fife on the “Andy Griffith Show.”